Early on, the Belfry Pirates knew it wouldn’t be easy getting back to Bowling Green. Too young. Too injured. Too much beyond their control, according to longtime coach Philip Haywood. But the defending Class 3A champions are headed to their fifth straight state title game after handling Russell, 33-0, in the state semifinals on Friday night at CAM Stadium. The Pirates outrushed the Red Devils 267 yards to 73. “Obviously we struggled to run the football,” Russell coach T.J. Maynard said. “A lot of that credit’s gotta go to Belfry. Big and strong; (they) run the ball really well. “We didn’t play real well, and in this type of game we gotta play the best game, and we gotta do a better job as a coaching staff of preparing our kids

 

.”Class 3A semifinals: Belfry denies Russell chance - The Independent Online: Sports

The Independent consistently puts out one of the best newspapers in KY, especially their sports department. :thumb:

Great article.

 

My only critique is their offensive stats for Belfry seemed to be a bit low.

 

The real story Friday was Belfry's defensive line and overall team speed. Horton was unblockable and disrupted Russell's offense the entire night. Stanley and Sanger were making tackles everywhere and the Belfry secondary ate up any pass downfield.

 

Russell did not cross midfield until midway through the 3rd.

 

The jury is still out though if Belfry's defense is simply playing "that good" now that they are healthy, or if they simply aren't being challenged by very good offenses. How Belfry reacts to the speed and physicality of Central is still TBD.